Possibility of genetic coding of amino acid sequences by coherent electronic states in nucleotide chains.

Abstract

The concept of coherent electronic states and coherent interactions in supramolecular structures is applied to the process of genetic information coding and its transcription from DNA to mRNA. A new genetic code is proposed based on the assumption of coherent electron states in linear chains of nucleotide bases. A new interpretation of codon equivalency (redundancy) is given. The number of existing amino acids is derived from the optimalization principle applied to the physical system storing the genetic information in the new code. The proposed code uses a variable number of positions or nucleotide bases along the DNA-mRNA structure to code a single amino acid in a protein. The average of this variable number must be equal to the base of natural logarithms (e = 2.7 . . .) in order to minimize the number of nucleotides required to code a sequence of amino acids.